1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of producing and displaying communication data including an actually photographed picture of a user, and more particularly, to a communication data producing and displaying technique which allow an actually photographed picture to be attached with data without encountering a problem with the data size and without making a user nervous.
The present invention also relates to a conversation supporting system/method implemented and provided on a computer network such as the Internet, for supporting a virtual conversation such as a chat in which a plurality of users are allowed to participate, and more particularly, to a conversation supporting system/method for supporting a remote conversation in which actually-photographed pictures of respective users are provided without encountering a problem of a high load imposed upon the network or without imposing a psychological pressure upon the users.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, dramatically great advances have been achieved in information processing, information communication, and computing technologies, and computer systems are now used everywhere. The need for a more advanced networking technique for connecting computers to each other is becoming increasingly strong. When computers are connected to each other via a network, users of computers can share computer resources and can distribute, exchange, and share information among users in a very efficient manner. Furthermore, cooperative jobs are possible among computers connected to each other via a network.
A wide variety of networking techniques are used to connect computers to each other. They include a LAN (Local Area Network) such as Ethernet and Bluetooth installed in a local area, a WAN (Wide Area Network) which connects LANs via a dedicated line or the like, and the Internet which has grown to a world-wide network system after a great number of networks have been connected from one to another.
At present, a huge number of servers are distributed on the Internet, and various information resources such as HTML documents are available via the Internet with or without cost. By specifying an identifier called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator), clients can access any of these information resources open to the public according to the TCP/IP protocol.
There is a tendency toward the use of a network such as the Internet not only to simply distribute information but also to realize real-time remote communication. Specific examples of applications to such remote communication include a BBS (Bulletin Board System) and a chat system.
The BBS is a system in which computerized bulletin information is collected and stored on servers on a network and is provided to users via the network. The BBS has the advantage that information can be managed by servers in a unified fashion and information can be transmitted at real time among users at various remote locations in a wide area.
The chat is an on-line talk performed in real time on a network by users to input characters via keyboards. In general, a plurality of users logging in a chat can talk on a real-time basis, and the contents of talks of the respective users are displayed on monitor screens of all participants. The chat allows users at various remote locations to enjoy real-time talks or discussions in a virtual world build on the Internet. An attractive advantage of the chat system is that any user can participate in a chat simply by logging in the virtual world provided by the chat system and they are not necessarily needed to be acquaintances to each other in the real world. In the chat, in contrast to the e-mail and the BBS in which interactions are performed in an asynchronous fashion, talks are performed in a synchronous fashion such that a string of characters input by a user logging in the chat is immediately transmitted to the other users. The chat is exciting in that user can immediately receive a response from another user and can input a next sentence depending upon the received response. In the chat, unlike e-mails in which rather long sentences are transmitted, sentences transmitted are usually short.
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is an example of a known server-client system for realizing a real-time conference or chat on the Internet. The IRC protocol used in IRC is defined in the RFC (Request For Comments) 1459 standard.
It is also known in the art to realize real-time communication by transmitting audio and video data (moving picture, for example) produced via a video camera over a network. In such a two-way communication system, one-to-one connections are usually employed as in a television conference system or a video conference system. However, in some two-way communication systems, as in xe2x80x9cCU-See Mexe2x80x9d developed at Cornell University, USA, communication is performed among a plurality of users in the form of a chat using a plurality of media such as a video and audio media.
In communication, if video pictures are used in addition to words, expressions of faces of respective users are transmitted, and enhanced feelings of presence can be obtained. However, transmission of video data via a network has the following problems.
(1) Video data generally has a large size, and thus video data needs wide bandwidth in transmission via a network.
(2) A picture of a user is always taken by a camera during communication, and thus a high psychological pressure is imposed upon the user. This limits the situation in which the system is used.
(3) Because a picture and a voice are transmitted on a real-time basis, it is difficult to see (or listen to) data received at some previous time while grasping the current status.
In a chat system called xe2x80x9cMicrosoft Chatxe2x80x9d available from Microsoft Corporation, USA, a cartoon character for providing additional information in addition to text information is assigned to each user, wherein each cartoon character can have different face expressions. Cartoon characters assigned to respective users are displayed in an array of frames on a browser screen, and a text input by a user is displayed in a speech balloon of a corresponding cartoon character. In this chat system, unlike the system in which video data is transmitted, the problem of use of a wide bandwidth in transmission over a network does not occur. However, cartoon characters are less expressive than video pictures. Besides, cartoon characters cannot be easily accepted in applications, such as a conference, for use in companies.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique of producing and displaying communication data including an actually-photographed picture of a user.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a technique of producing and displaying communication data, capable of attaching an actually-photographed picture without having a problem in terms of the data size and without imposing a psychological pressure upon the user.
It is still another aspect of the present invention to provide a conversation supporting system/method implemented and provided on a computer network such as the Internet, for supporting a virtual conversation such as a chat in which a plurality of users are allowed to participate.
It is still another aspect of the present invention to provide a conversation supporting system/method for supporting a remote conversation in which actually photographed pictures of respective users are provided without encountering a problem of a high load imposed upon the network or without imposing a psychological pressure upon the users.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, to achieve the above objects, there is provided a communication data producing apparatus/method for producing communication data including an actually-photographed picture, the communication data producing apparatus/method comprising: a sentence inputting unit/step for inputting, by a user, a sentence or a statement; an imaging unit/step for taking a picture of the user a plurality of times in a predetermined period of time; a processing unit/step for producing communication data including the sentence or the statement input via/in the sentence inputting unit/step and the plurality of pictures taken by/in the imaging unit/step.
In the present invention, communication data includes text data such as a sentence input by a user and a plurality of still pictures of the user taken at particular intervals of time. Because the communication data includes visual information provided by a picture of a user, the communication data can more stimulate a user who receives the communication data than text-base communication data can. Furthermore, by representing a motion using a plurality of still pictures, it is possible to transmit a similar amount of information as can be transmitted by a moving picture.
Because the motion is represented using only a plurality of still pictures, the data size is much smaller than is required to represent a motion using a moving picture. This allows a reduction in a transmission load or a storage load. Furthermore, because a picture of a user is not always taken, a less psychological pressure is imposed upon the user.
In a communication data reproducing apparatus, an input sentence is always displayed on a browser screen and a picture is switched from time to time so as to provide an expressive picture having a motion to a user. Instead of switching the picture at fixed intervals of time, the picture may be switched at random intervals determined using random numbers or the like so that an unpredictable motion is provided using only still pictures thereby making the picture look like a moving picture. In a communication data producing apparatus, for example, if a user makes a motion such as a gesture when a picture is taken, a greater amount of information is embedded in communication data.
Preferably, in the communication data producing apparatus/method according to the first aspect of the present invention, in response to an operation performed by the user to input a sentence or a statement via/in the sentence inputting unit/step, the processing unit/step starts taking a plurality of pictures using/in the imaging unit/step and produces communication data.
The communication data producing apparatus/method according to the first aspect of the present invention may further comprise an indicator/indicating step for indicating to the user the timings of the respective pictures taken by the imaging unit/step, so that in response to the indication, the user may form a particular expression on his/her face or making a gesture or performance.
The communication data producing apparatus/method may further comprise a sentence analyzer/analyzing step for analyzing the sentence input via/in the sentence inputting unit/step and an image processing unit/step for processing a picture taken by/in the imaging unit/step, in accordance with the result of analysis performed by/in the sentence analyzer/analyzing step.
In the sentence analyzer/analyzing step, a mark such as an exclamation mark, a question mark and a face mark or an escape sequence may be extracted from the sentence input in the sentence inputting unit/step and the meaning or intention of the sentence may be determined on the basis of the extracted mark in addition to a result of analysis of a word or an expression in the input sentence.
The image processing unit/step may perform synthesis and/or modification, such as setting of a background, adjustment of lightness, luminance, and contrast, superimposing upon a CG image, conversion by means of synthesis into a sepia-color form, oil-painting-like form, watercolor-painting-like form, or mosaic form, and/or positive-to-negative reversion, upon a picture depending upon a feeling of a user or the purpose of a sentence detected as a result of the sentence analysis performed by the sentence analyzer.
The sentence inputting unit/step may accept an input of a mark or an escape sequence indicating the meaning or intention of the input sentence.
The communication data producing apparatus/unit may further comprise a communication unit for transferring produced communication data to the outside of the communication data producing apparatus.
The communication data producing apparatus/method may further comprise a data storage unit/step for storing produced communication data.
The communication data producing apparatus/method may further comprise a user location registration unit/step for registering a set of location information and a user identifier for each of a plurality of users; and a driving unit/step for moving an imaging area of/in the imaging unit/step to a specified location, wherein in response to an operation performed by a user to input a sentence via/in the sentence inputting unit/step, the processing unit/step may acquire location information associated with the user by issuing a query to/in about the user location registration unit/step and may move, using/in the driving unit/step, the imaging area of/in the imaging unit/step in accordance with the acquired location information, and the processing unit/step may produce communication data including the sentence or statement input via/in the sentence inputting unit/step and a plurality of pictures taken by/in the imaging unit/step.
The user location registration unit may be connected to a main unit of the communication data producing apparatus via a network. Herein, a plurality of user location registration units may be employed so that user location information may be managed in a distributed fashion.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication data reproducing apparatus/method for reproducing communication data including sentence data and a plurality of image data, the communication data reproducing apparatus/method comprising: a display unit including a display screen (in the case of the communication data reproducing apparatus); and a display controller/controlling step for setting a frame for displaying communication data therein on the display screen and displaying, in the frame, a sentence and one of a plurality of pictures contained in communication data.
Preferably, the communication data reproducing apparatus/method according to the second aspect of the present invention further comprises a communication unit/step for receiving communication data from the outside.
The communication data reproducing apparatus/method according to the second aspect of the present invention may further comprise a data storage unit/step for storing a plurality of communication data.
The display controller/controlling step may switch the picture displayed in the frame at arbitrary or predetermined intervals of time.
The display controller/controlling step may allocate a plurality of frames for displaying respective plural communication data on the display screen such that a plurality of communication data are displayed on the single screen so that a user can see the data at a glance. This technique allows a plurality of users to communicate with one another. In this case, the respective frames may be allocated such that they have different horizontal or vertical sizes and/or they are disposed at different locations on the screen in accordance with the order of time.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program storage medium on which a software program is stored in a computer-readable form, the software program describing, in a computer language, a process of producing communication data including an actually-photographed picture, the software program comprising: a sentence inputting step in which a user inputs a sentence or a statement; an imaging step in which a picture of the user is taken a plurality of times in a predetermined period of time; and a processing step in which communication data, including the sentence or the statement input in the sentence inputting step and the plurality of pictures taken in the imaging step, is produced.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program storage medium on which a software program is stored in a computer-readable form, the software program describing, in a computer language, a process of reproducing communication data including sentence data and an actually-photographed picture on a display screen, the software program comprising a display controlling step in which a frame for displaying communication data therein is set on the display screen, and a sentence and one of a plurality of pictures contained in communication data are displayed in the frame.
The computer-readable storage medium according to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention may be, for example, a medium used to provide a computer program in a computer readable form to a general-purpose computer system having the capability of executing various program codes. A specific example of such a medium is a removable and portable storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disc), an FD (Floppy Disc), and an MO (Magneto-Optical disc). Alternatively, the computer program may be supplied to a particular computer system via a transmission medium such as a network (in the form of either a wireless network or a cable network).
The program storage medium defines a cooperative relationship in structure or function, for realizing a function of a particular computer program on a computer system, between the computer program and the storage medium. In other words, by installing a particular computer program onto a computer system via a program storage medium according to the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to implement cooperative functions on the computer system so as to realize functions similar to those realized by the first or second aspect of the present invention.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.